The Brainchild Group News

I’ve heard sonic booms, have shot guns, saw things explode (building implosions) and, after all I’ve seen, today’s sonic boom from the space shuttle Discovery almost made me change my pants. No, just kidding, it wasn’t that bad, but it did startle everyone quite a bit.

At close to 6PM today, I was having a meeting with a few friends at the Coffee Bean, which is located next to the Farmer’s Market and The Grove in Los Angeles. We were having a conversation about the economy and all of the sudden two large bangs went off. Being that it’s 9-11 and all, I think many people had their guard up, and this freaked them out especially. Everyone immediately, and I guess you can say understandably, started looking to the sky. The friends I was with (a few doctors, a judge, a real estate broker, and a couple others) seemed to not be startled at all; they took a very nonchalant approach. Though I myself wasn’t scared, I did feel a bit uneasy.

Once I got home, hung out with my cat, then jumped online, I saw an article on CNN’s website regarding the space shuttle Discovery’s landing. The weather surrounding the Kennedy Space Center was not ideal, so Discovery was re-directed to Edwards Air Force Base in the Mojave Desert. A-ha! The Sounds I heard were huge sonic booms — it all makes sense now. According to the LA Times, “The space shuttle Discovery landed this afternoon at Edwards Air Force Base, complete with its signature sonic boom heard across Southern California. The shuttle glided down over Los Angeles and landed on the runway without incident. The so-called de-orbit burn began shortly before 5 p.m., with landing about 5:50 p.m. The landing completes a trip to deliver supplies and equipment to the International Space Station. The mission lasted 14 days and covered 5.7 million miles.”

Moral of the story: if you live in or near Los Angeles and heard the loud booms, don’t be alarmed, it’s just ET returning home. Classic quote — “ET PHOOOOONE HOME”…. Love it! :)